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Sunday night saw a massive fireball over southern Germany, Switzerland, and eastern France. Reports put the time of the event at around 19:48 GMT. Witnesses from Germany, Switzerland, France and Austria reported the event to the International Meteor Organization (IMO), and more than 175 eyewitness reports have been collected so far (see image below). Robin from Tuttlingen said: “The fireball was so bright that it illuminated the sky and landscape around me to twilight brightness levels.”

Fireball reports from the March 15th 2015 fireball, submitted through the IMO’s “Report a fireball” form at http://fireballs.imo.net/

Twenty witnesses near Zurich reported a rumbling boom sound shortly after the fireball appeared. One witness outside of Zurich described the boom by saying, “About two minutes after the fireball there was a considerably strong sonic boom. After the sonic boom rumble was heard for at least twenty seconds.” These types of booms associated with meteors indicate the fireball penetrated deep into the Earth’s atmosphere. An estimated trajectory, computed from the witness reports, shows the fireball was travelling from north to south, starting about 25 km south of Stuttgart and ending approximately 20 km east of Zurich. The event was also captured by several dashcams and other automated cameras. One camera, operated by Thomas Tuchan, caught the path of the fireball across the sky:

The fireball caught on an all-sky camera

Fireballs are exceptionally bright events which happen when a meteoroid passes through the atmosphere. Stand outside on any clear night for more than a few minutes, and you will see a meteor somewhere in the sky. Meteors are caused by small pieces of rock, generally less than a millimetre in size. They range in brightness from too faint to be seen with the naked eye, right up to brighter than the full moon. The majority of meteors are at the faint end of this scale, while fireball events like this one are at the extreme upper end of this range. Most eyewitness reports so far put the brightness of Sunday’s fireball greater than that of the full Moon (magnitude -13). You can see all of the reports for this event at: http://fireballs.imo.net/imo_view/event/2015/657

Almost all small meteoroids disintegrate during their passage through the atmosphere. But sometimes, very bright fireball events can result in a meteorite fall, where the meteoroid (or parts of it, in the case of an explosion) reaches the ground. If this happens, reports from people who saw the event are vital in determining the likely location of the debris.

Whether a fall occurs or not, the details of fireball events like this can only be determined from combining the information from many eyewitness reports. If you saw this fireball you can help researchers by reporting what you saw in as much detail as possible. The best way to do this is though the IMO’s fireball report form. The form is simple and guides you easily through the process of reporting your sighting, assuming no specialist knowledge, and is now available in more than 25 languages (including German and French).

For further information on meteors and other related events, and advice on how to observe and report them, visit the IMO website.

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Notes for editors

The International Meteor Organisation (IMO) was founded in 1988 and today has a membership of over 250, consisting of both amateur and professional astronomers. The IMO was created in response to an ever growing need for international cooperation between amateur astronomers working on meteors. By collecting meteor observations from observers around the world using a variety of different techniques, the IMO ensures the comprehensive study of meteor showers and their relation to comets and interplanetary dust. Each year the IMO organises an international conference to facilitate the exchange of ideas and help progress the field of meteor research.

Never mind the new year fireworks, the start of 2015 happened with an even bigger bang, at least if you happened to be in Romania, Moldova or the Ukraine. The early hours of January 7th saw a massive fireball over the region, culminating in an explosion loud enough to wake people, and causing many to call the emergency services to report the event. In Romania reports of sightings have come in from across the country, putting the time of the explosion at 3:05 EET (01:05 UT), with people hearing the explosion in the counties of Buzau, Vrancea and Covasna.

So far over 50 recordings and eye witness reports have been collected by the IMO, many from surveillance cameras recording sudden brightening of whatever outside area was being monitored. A compilation of videos of the event, as recorded by security cameras, can be viewed on youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjS8GHu_0ZM. The map below shows the location of the reports received so far, red dots are from surveillance cameras, the blue markers are visual reports from witnesses, and the green dots are reports from those who heard the terminal explosion.

Fireballs are exceptionally bright events which happen when a meteoroid passes through the atmosphere. Stand outside on any clear night for more than a few minutes, and you will see a meteor somewhere in the sky. Meteors are caused by small pieces of rock, generally less than a millimetre in size. They range in brightness from too faint to be seen with the naked eye, right up to brighter than the full moon. The majority of meteors are at the faint end of this scale, while fireball events like this one are at the extreme upper end of this range.

The reports from Romania of the January 7th fireball put the maximum apparent magnitude of -16, brighter than the full Moon (-13). For comparison, the Sun has an apparent magnitude of -26, the brightest star in the night sky, Sirius, has an apparent magnitude of -1.4, and the human eye is capable of seeing as faint as magnitude +6 under good observing conditions from a dark site.

The magnitude scale is logarithmic; a star with magnitude +1 is actually 2.512 times brighter than a star with magnitude +2. The apparent magnitude above which a meteor is considered a fireball is somewhat arbitrary, with different publications defining it by different numbers. Roughly one in 1,200 meteors is brighter than magnitude -5, while only one on 12,000 meteors reaches magnitude -8 or brighter, so fireball events like this one are rare.

Almost all small meteoroids disintegrate during their passage through the atmosphere. But sometimes, very bright fireball events can result in a meteorite fall, where the meteoroid (or parts of it, in the case of an explosion) reaches the ground. If this happens, reports from people who saw the event are vital in determining the likely location of the debris.

So far, information on the event is sparse. The explosion appears to have occurred at a height of roughly 55 kilometres and it is likely that the meteoroid completely disintegrated. Whether a fall occurs or not, the details of events like this can only be determined from combining the information from many eyewitness reports. If you see a bright fireball event like this, you can help researchers by reporting what you saw in as much detail as possible. You can find further information on meteors and other related events, and advice on how to observe and report them, visit the IMO website at http://www.imo.net/